Prepayment gas-meter.



Patented Aug. 7, 1900.

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Attorney.

E. F. GRIFFITHS. PREPAYMENT GAS METER,

(Application filed Dec. 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

m a n n m p m n n n n I I 1 I n n I n )mnms FETERS ca, s-uoro-uma. WASHINGTON, u. a

W itnesses.

@ UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

EBENEZER F. GRIFFITHS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PREPAYMENT GAS-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,438, dated August '7, 1900.

Application filed December 13,1899. SerialNo. 7405152. (No model.)

T (0 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EBENEZER F. GRIFFITHS,

a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prepayment Gas-Meters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable IO others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to prepayment movements for gas-meters,and has particular reference to the valve that controls the flow of gas into the meter and to the mechanism that controls said valve.

The objectsot' my improvement are, first, to form the valve and its connections practically in one piece that can be easily and quickly soldered to the meter in a position 2 5 that will allow of the free movement of said valve, and, second,to provide mechanism that will at the proper time quickly open Wide or tightly close the valve. 7

The general construction of the meter and 0 the special mechanism designed to give movement to the valve-operating device are fully described in the patent granted to me on April 26, 1898, No. 603,079. Ihave therefore not shown or described these parts in all of 5 their detail; but to more easily distinguish the old from the new I have marked the old parts with the same letters that were used to designate them in the former patent and. used numerals to designate the new parts in this the side of the meter and-containing the coinoperated mechanism. Y

1 is a tubular case or inclosure surrounding the valve through which the gas is admitted into the meter. v

2 is an opening in one side of the tubular case 1'.'through which opening the'gas is' admitted from the inlet-pipe A, flowing in the direction indicated by the arrows through the short pipe at and the slanting pipe or passageway 3, that extends from the opening 2 in the side of the valve-casing to the opening 4 in the short pipe a;

a is a puppet-valve located in the bottom part of the tubular case 1, which has formed therein a suitable valve-seat. The tubular case 1,containing the valve a is provided with a bottom flanged portion 5, and it is secured in the meter immediately over an opening in the gas-outlet pipe A a is the stem of the valve.- This valvestem is pivotally connected bya pin 6 to the lever 7, which has at one end the slot 8 and at the opposite endthe slot 9.

10 is a post supporting one end of the slotted lever 7 and provided with a suitable pin 11, fitting into the slot 8 on the end of the lever.

12 is a top having therein a stuffing-box screw-threaded on the outside and fitting into a corresponding screw-thread on the top portion of the valve-casing 1. The valve-stem a passes through openings in the top and bottom of the stuifing-box, and as these top and bottom openings are some distance apart and register with each other an easy straight up-and-down movement can be readlly imof this downwardly-projecting spur 15 is bev eled anda corresponding bevel formed on the forward side of the notch 17 in the disk 16, so that when the valve is closed and the disk is in the position shown in Fig. 1, with the spur 15 fitting into the notch 17, a movement of the disk in the direction indicated by the arrow will force the inclined surface of the spur 15 to slide over the incline in the notch 17 and quickly force the forward end of the lever 13 upward, thus opening the valve a and allowing the gas to flow through the valve. The bottom of the spur 15 sliding along on the periphery of the disk 16 (see Fig. 2) the valve is kept wide open until a reverse movement of the mechanism forces the spur 15 down into the notch 17.

18 is an arm or extension on the disk 16. The end of this arm when the disk is turned toward the right hand slides over the bottom edge of the Wide end portion of the pivoted lever 13, operating said lever so as to depress the forward end thereof, and thus through the lever 7 close the valve (L The disk 16 is secured upon the end of the shaft d that carries a pinion (1 that fits into and is operated by the cylindrical rack d, that is moved back and forward by the screw-threaded shaft 0, that is in turn operated by the worm-wheel 0 that engages with the worm d on the shaft a The valve a and the stuffing-hox 12, being attached to the tubular casing 1, they all together practically form one piece, so that when they are ready to be set in position they require no adjustment in relation to each other, it being only necessary to fit the bottom flanged portion of the tubular valve-casing 1 into the opening that registers with the opening in the pipe A The portion of the meter upon which the valve and its connections are placed being only the thickness of a sheet of tin, the short flanged portion of the casing 1 will project through and a secure solder-joint can readily be made. This construction and arrangement of the valve makes a strong and reliable device that requires no special skill to set in place and is not likely to get out of order. Should the valve get out of order, it is only necessary to remove the pin 6, that connects the valve-stem to the lever 7, slide said lever forward or backward, and remove it from its place, when the valve and stuffing-box can be removed either separately or both together. The disk 16, being provided with the comparatively-long arm 18, that operates against the short arm of the lever 14, a quick and positive movement is imparted to the long end of said lever and through it to the lever 7 lifting the valve a from its seat, so that it is full open almost as soon as it has been moved at all. The valve: lifting lever 7 having open slots on both ends, no nice adjustment is required, and when any repairs are necessary it can easilybe disconnected from the other parts.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A valve-lifting mechanism for prepayment gas-meters, consisting of the disk 16, having therein the beveled-edge notch 17, and provided with the extending arm 18, the lever 13, having thereon the downwardly-projecting slanting-edge spur 15, adapted to slide over the periphery of the disk 16, and fit into the notch 17, the forward end of said lever being connected with a suitable valve and the rear end adapted to be operated by the arm 18, substantially as shown. 2. In a prepayment gas-meter, the combination of the disk 16, connected to suitable operating mechanism and having thereon the beveled-edge notch 17 andextending arm 18, with the. lever 13, having thereon the downwardly-projecting slanting-edge spur 15, one end of said lever being adapted to be operated by the arm 18, and the opposite end fitting into the lever 7, connected with a valve controlling the flow of gas through the meter, substantially as shown.

3. In a prepayment gas-meter, the combination of the disk 16, connected to suitable I operating mechanism and having therein the beveled-edge notch 17 and extending arm 18, v

the pivoted lever 13, having thereon the spur 15, slotted lever 7, one end of which is connected with the lever 13, and the opposite end fitted to the post 10, with the casing 1, having therein the valve of, the stem of which is connected to the lever 7, and a stufling-box, all arranged, substantially as shown and for the purpose described. 7

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EBENEZER F. GRIFFITHS.

Witnesses:

THOS. D. MOWLDS, SAML. F. KIRKPATRICK. 

